A passenger vessel the size of a whale and packed with gardens, the concept ship Physalia is also designed to purify every river it floats in. Keep the Physalia in your river for long enough, and it will create drinkable water.
Created by Vincent Callebaut Architects, the ship is intended to float upon some of the most famous rivers of Europe, cleansing them and making their water drinkable. Say the architects:
It is a half aquatic and half earthly amphibious vessel, a floating agora . . . [a] true nomadic hydrodynamic laboratory . . . Its architecture with carbon zero emission is eco-designed from renewable energies to make it as a prototype with positive energy, that means producing more energy than it consumes! Thus, its roof contains a double pneumatic membrane chiselled with smooth photovoltaic solar cells whereas under its hull the hydro-turbines transform the energy of the fluvial stream in hydro-electricity and enable to adjust the soft navigation. Its surface is made of aluminum covering the multi-hull steel structure. This silver-plated dress is covered by a TiO2 layer of anatase shape that by reacting to the ultraviolet rays enables to reduce the water pollution. Actually, in addition to being a self cleaning vessel, it enables to absorb and recycle by photo-catalytic effect, the chemical and carboned waste from the fluvial water rejected by the traditional boats and by industrialists. Moreover, the project is crossed in its double hull by a hydraulic network that enables to filter the fluvial water and to purify it biologically thanks to its planted roof.
For now the ship may be science fiction, but in five years it could easily be a reality.
via Vincent Callebaut, spotted on Flux Architecture
